Saul’s Conversion

There was a time when the telegraph was the fastest method of long distance Communication.  A young man was looking for a job as a Morse code operator.  Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office at the address listed in the paper.  When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter and the sound of the telegraph in the background.  When he filled out the application form, he sat down and waited for his turn as there were seven other applicants in the waiting area.  

After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in.  The 7 other applicants wondered what was going on.  They muttered among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet.  Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”   

The other applicants began grumbling amongst each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand.  He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed.  Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”  The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse code:  ‘If you understand this message, then come right in.  The job is yours.’  None of you heard it or understood it.  This young man did.  The job is his.”

We live in a busy world and hear many different noises around us. Amongst all this noise, we need to focus and listen to the quiet voice of God as He speaks to us.  Ellen White says in “Steps to Christ” p.28 “longing for something better than this world can give” is “the voice of God to your soul.” Are you tuned in to God’s voice?  Please open the book of Acts, chapter 9.  Let us think about the experience of Saul this morning, who was converted after he heard the voice of Jesus. 

Acts9:1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 9:2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Saul was aggressively persecuting Christians. He was lashing out murderous threats against them. He was so zealous for his Jewish beliefs that he was even determined to pursue fugitive Christians to foreign cities. So he went to see the high priest and asked him to write letters to the synagogues of Damascus that he could arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem.  He then went off with his followers to Damascus. His was determined to eradicate all Christians from this world.  He was a terror to the church. But amazingly, God spoke to him and converted him. It was about noon when Saul and his followers were soon about to arrive in Damascus.  Look at verse 3 to 7.

Acts9:3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

9:4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

9:5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."

9:6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

9:7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

The risen Christ came down from heaven and appeared to Saul.  He was shining with the glory of God so much that Saul was blinded by the light and fell to the ground.  Then he heard a voice; “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?  I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  The voice surprised him, because Jesus who had died was alive.  And He was shining with the brilliance and the glory of God.  This meant that He was indeed the Son of God, who had risen from the dead, which His disciples had claimed many times.  Furthermore, Saul was told that this Holy Man had been persecuted by him.  He thought that it God’s will to persecute Christians, but he was wrong, but instead, he had been tormenting Jesus.  He had been doing the antithesis of God’s will boldly and fearlessly.

If you were Saul, what would you do?  If you saw a man who had died but had risen from the dead, and was God whom you’d been persecuting for many years, what would you do? 

Let’s look at Acts 9:8 onward.  Saul got up and tried to open his eyes.  But he could not.  He could not see anything.  So the men travelling with Saul led him by the hand into Damascus, and there he looked back to his life without food and drink. 

After that Ananias, the Lord’s disciple, came to him and prayed for him.  His eyes were opened, and he was baptised from Ananias.  Look at verse 20.  He immediately went out to preach in the synagogues of Damascus, that Jesus is the Son of the living God.

Thus, Saul’s life was changed completely.  We may call it the Copernican conversion. He was converted from a persecutor of Christians to their protector and worked to increase them in number.

Let me share with you a story about a Christian woman from the book called “The Truth About Mary Magdalene” by Pastor Doug Batchelor.

Sarah was a wonderful Christian woman who had a rare and deep relationship with her Lord.  But her brother George was the proverbial black sheep of the family, the opposite of the life of his sister.  George had a severe alcohol problem.  After years of abuse, his body rebelled.  His kidneys were failing fast.  The doctors told Sarah that George would surely die soon without a kidney transplant.

“So, what about a transplant?” she asked.

“Because of George’s history of drinking, it’s doubtful that he would even qualify to have his name added to the transplant list.”

Without hesitation, Sarah asked the doctors if she could donate one of her kidneys to her ailing brother.

“If your blood type matches you could,” the doctor replied. “But this is an expensive operation, and we question the wisdom of putting your health at risk for a person with such self-destructive habits.”

“Please, Doctor. Just find out if my kidney is viable.”

It turned out that their blood types did match. When the accounting department brought up the subject of money – George had no insurance – Sarah mortgaged her home and assumed responsibility to pay whatever was needed. With determined persistence, she persuaded the hospital and the transplant team to perform the surgery.

The transplant procedure was successful – for George, that is, but not for Sarah. Sarah had a rare allergic reaction to the anaesthetic, and after the surgery, found herself paralyzed from the waist down.

Sarah was able to bear the tragic news a little better when she was told George was doing remarkably well. “Thank God,” she said. “If I am able to buy my brother a few more years of life during which he could find the Saviour, then it was still worth it, even if I can never walk again.”

How noble and generous of the loving sister. However, the nobility is not the reason why I tell this story, for life is stranger than fiction. How do you think Sarah felt when her brother never stopped by her bed to thank her for her costly sacrifice? And how do you think Sarah felt when she learned that the first thing her brother did after leaving the hospital was to go to bar and celebrate?

The Truth About Mary Magdalene, 24-25

This story comes to a sad conclusion.  I feel very sorry for Sarah.  It’s very unfortunate how the brother couldn’t understand how much his sister wanted to save him by donating him her kidney.

Let me give you a quotation of “Steps to Christ, p.23.”

“We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.”

Indeed we cannot renounce sin unless we see the dreadfulness of its sinfulness. Brother George couldn’t see it even if his body had collapsed and his sister was paralyzed from her waist down. Sin was very attractive to him.

But why was Saul able to turn away from sin?  It was because he saw his sins as the one to torment Jesus.  He didn’t feel any guilt when he was persecuting Christians. He was possessed by his sinful life.  But when he realised his sins were afflicting Jesus, he couldn’t help but stop the persecution.  His conversion had begun. 

I still clearly remember a time when I visited a cancer patient who was to about die soon. I saw her having difficulty in breathing even with an oxygen mask over her mouth.  While I was at a loss for words, she said to me; “Pastor, I didn’t know how terrible lung cancer was.  Please tell my sufferings to as many people as possible.” 

It’s so terrible to die in pain.  Jesus could never die in peace but in pain.  Because He carried all the sins of the world on the cross, His suffering was nearly too much to bear.  When Saul thought about this Messianic pain himself, he felt his heart tear to pieces.  The book of Acts 9:9 says that he neither ate nor drank for three days.  I am sure that he prayed very hard in repentance for forgiveness of his sins. And from this experience, he was converted and began a new spiritual life.

The Lord Jesus took upon Himself the suffering of our sins. Sin tormented Him and crucified Him on the cross. Sin not only killed people and destroyed the environment but also killed God Himself. Sin is very dreadful. There is nothing more terrible than this. Saul admitted his sins and was determined to turn away from it to follow Jesus.

1 Peter2:24 (Christ) Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed.

There is fighting everywhere in the world; in Iraq and Afghanistan, Lebanon and Israel everyday. Even here in the district of East York there were two shootings recently during broad daylight.  They didn’t care about taking people’s lives. It is very unfortunate. The world is in a state of disorder.  I am sure the Lord is grieving over it. Sin is dreadful. 

It’s our wish that people would be converted like Saul.  Because we believe that the Lord Jesus came down to this earth and took a great risk on the cross to save us from sin.  Let us pray for people to be saved. Is it impossible?  No, it’s not impossible because Saul, who took pleasure in persecuting Christians, encountered Jesus and was converted. I pray for many souls to be saved in their communion with the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord bless you all in love and peace.  Amen.